ABI Strategy — looking forward to 2024

By Alyson Norman

Previously I have written blogs about the eagerly anticipated ABI strategy. The latest news on this, which will come as no surprise to anyone given the date today, is that the strategy report will not be published this side of Christmas. Furthermore, due to cabinet reshuffles, there is yet another new minster in charge of the process. Progress has been slow and frustrating and certainly there is a feeling that the outcome may not be all we had hoped for.

But then that sense of failing hope reflects the general mood in brain injury land across the UK right now. Service provision, which was already limited, is being stripped back to its bare minimum. This means that less people with brain injuries are getting the help they need. So, who is providing help and support to these individuals?

We all know the answer is family members. In a time of austerity, it will always be family and close friends who pick up the shortfall. Sacrificing their own needs, wants and their own independence to look after the people they care about. Furthermore, the stripping back of these services means that there will be even less respite for families and carers too.

As an example, I live in Somerset. We are currently in the nerve-wracking position of wondering whether our local council is going to go bankrupt. This raises all kinds of interesting questions about public services in the region from rubbish collection to pothole repairs to the maintenance of care homes. As part of this financial crisis the council are being put under increasing pressure from central government to scale back their services to save money and correct the deficit (as well as obviously putting up council tax). A lot of local third sector organisations rely heavily on funding from local councils as the services they run are often too pricey to rely solely on charitable donations. They also struggle to gain grant funding for this sort of work because services should really be provided by the state. This means that the collapse of a local council is likely to take down a large number of local charities in its wake. Headway Somerset, for which I am a trustee, may become one of the victims of this financial crisis.

This will mean that centres may have to close, outreach services may well have to stop. In real terms this means less access to neurorehabilitation for people with brain injury, greater loneliness from a lack of community inclusion, less service to support people with shopping and other daily activities, increased pressure on family members, and no respite care for the 1 or 2 days each week families currently enjoy.

There has never been a greater need for a national strategy to address brain injury — the leading cause of death and disability in people under the age of 40. We need a new way forward that promotes wellbeing and recognises the financial benefits of offering services to people with brain injury, both in terms of helping them to return to work, but also in terms of enabling family members to stay in work.

If there are any MPs reading this, please do consider joining the APPG for ABI to place further pressure on the government to address this area of need. Equally, if you are an MP and would like to consider Brain Injury as part of your local or national manifesto, then I would love to hear from you. Let’s hope that 2024 brings a brighter future for us all and especially for families after brain injury.